Joseph Fletcher

[stashali]

I am trying to find the parents/siblings of my 2nd great grandfather, Joseph Fletcher, born about 1803 in Halifax. He was married to Martha Barraclough of North Bierley. Their children were all born in Lowmoor. I don't know if Halifax is anywhere near North Bierley or Lowmoor and don't know how to proceed.

[jeeb]

Hi stashali,

The IGI lists a baptism of Joseph Fletcher in Halifax son of William born 10 Oct 1801 & baptised 23 Feb 1802.
There are two more boys John & James baptised to William & Nancy in 1811 (same date which suggests they were older than infants at baptism)

Joseph Fletcher names his 2nd & 3rd born children William & Nancy. I think this stands a high chance of being Joseph's parents & siblings.

Jeremy

[stashali]

Oh gosh! You are a Knight in shining armor! Thank you. I'm so excited!

[arthurk]

I don't know if Halifax is anywhere near North Bierley or Lowmoor and don't know how to proceed.

North Bierley was in the parish of Bradford, but close to the boundary with Birstall, so you might need to check there too. Low Moor (the church there was also known as Wibsey) was also in Bradford; it had its own registers in the early 1800s but events were sometimes recorded in Bradford Parish Church (St Peter's - now the cathedral) registers as well.

The parish of Halifax adjoins Bradford in the Low Moor area, but it too had a number of subsidiary churches - the nearest ones would be Shelf, Coley, Northowram, Hipperholme, Lightcliffe and Brighouse, some (or possibly all) of which would have had their own registers in the early 1800s. Non-conformity was strong in that area, so there are numerous chapels to consider too.

Take it steadily, though, and you'll get there in the end. Meanwhile, has Jeremy found the right family? And did you get Joseph's date and place of birth from a census? - all possible entries would be useful, just in case there is any variation, or even better, his parents are with him.

Arthur

[jeeb]

Hi,
Following on from what Arthur has rightly said you must check this out for yourself, I am pointing out the most likely parents.
The 1861 lists Joseph's birthplace as Hipperholme and birth year 1802. Again as Arthur says, Hipperholme is adjoining Halifax and you would need to check if it had it's own church in 1802. I still think the one I gave you stands a good chance of being the correct one though.

Jeremy

[stashali]

Thank you Arthur and Jeremy. The geography lesson is wonderful. Although my late father was born in Harrowgate and brought up in Leeds, he is long gone and I have no family on the other side of the pond to ask questions of.

I am an elderly lady in a small rural county in New York State and need all the help I can get.
Catherine

[arthurk]

OK - a bit more on the churches (Church of England). As far as I can tell, at that date Hipperholme would have been served by Lightcliffe church, which is very close. Coley church was also functioning then, and although both were separate parishes, some events were apparently recorded in the registers and/or Bishops Transcripts of Halifax Parish Church (St John). (Source: National Index of Parish Registers) There's more information about the myriad of places in the ancient parish of Halifax at GENUKI - this page. Transcripts of a lot of parish records etc have been published by the Calderdale FHS.

Coley could be interesting: there's an 1801 Census for Hipperholme-cum-Brighouse (heads of household and number of occupants only) which lists a William Fletcher living in the district of "Coley Chapel, Copley Hall and Copley Mill"; he was in trade, and the family comprised 2 males and 3 females. They don't appear in the similar 1811 Census, though since on a quick glance this seems to have considerably fewer entries for Coley, the return may not have survived.

There's also an 1831 Census, which lists a William Fletcher, waterman, in a family of 2 males and 6 females; one of the males was aged over 20. No address is given, but in view of the ages, he seems to me rather unlikely to be Joseph's father.

(Census transcripts from Calderdale FHS)

Hope this helps,
Arthur

[Lizzy9]

Hi stashali,

The IGI lists a baptism of Joseph Fletcher in Halifax son of William born 10 Oct 1801 & baptised 23 Feb 1802.
There are two more boys John & James baptised to William & Nancy in 1811 (same date which suggests they were older than infants at baptism)

Joseph Fletcher names his 2nd & 3rd born children William & Nancy. I think this stands a high chance of being Joseph's parents & siblings.

Jeremy

Joseph christened 23/2/1802 was the son of William, a shoemaker of Lightcliffe, no mother's name is given.

John and James christened 3/10/1811 were sons of William a Militiaman and his wife Nancy, they were living in Hipperholme.

[Lizzy9]

William Fletcher (shoemaker) married Ann Empsall by banns 29/11/1796, bride and groom from Hipperholme.

Nancy was commonly used as a nickname for Ann.

It's possible Wiliam the shoemaker joined the militia.

[Lizzy9]

Other children born to William Fletcher (shoemaker)

Benjamin 9/7/1797, Halifax
Hannah 12/8/1798, Hipperholme - chapelry Coley.
Amelia 14/11/1799, Hipperholme

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Possible christening for William.

28/5/1776 of John (cordwainer) of Southowram.

And Ann Empsall.

15/2/1778 of William (no occ. listed) no abode listed - chapelry Lightcliffe.